REPORT TO THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS

Transcription

1 REPORT TO THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS SUBJECT TUITION MSc IN OCEANS AND FISHERIES MEETING DATE APRIL 19, 2018 APPROVED FOR SUBMISSION Forwarded to the Board of Governors on the Recommendation of the President Santa J. Ono, President and Vice-Chancellor DECISION REQUESTED IT IS HEREBY REQUESTED that the UBC Board of Governors approve proposed tuition of $1, per instalment for domestic students and $2, per instalment for international students for the new MSc in Oceans and Fisheries, effective for September 1, Report Date March 15, 2018 Presented By Andrew Szeri, Provost and Vice-President Academic Hugh Brock, Associate Provost Academic Innovation Simon Peacock, Dean, Faculty of Science Dr. Evgeny Pakhomov, Director of the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The M.Sc. in Oceans and Fisheries is a two-year degree program to be offered on the Vancouver campus by the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries (IOF). Two MSc options are offered. In the 12-credit thesis option students will take 18 credits of coursework and write a 12 credit M.Sc. thesis. In the 18-credit thesis option students will take 12 credits of coursework and write an 18-credit M.Sc. thesis. The IOF and the former Fisheries Centre have offered fisheries graduate courses for credit since the 1990s and have run a fisheries MSc option under the Resources and Environmental Studies Graduate Program since 2011 with the fisheries MSc option soon to be dissolved. The Provincial and Federal Governments are committed to achieving a balance between environmental protection, economic development in BC resource sectors, and growth in BC Seafood Industries 1. Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has noted that sustainable management of BC fisheries is becoming increasingly challenging given the uncertainties of climate change and other pressures and that DFO need[s] to recruit individuals with the skills to engage and address the problems 2. The proposed program aims to train such individuals. The Program will attract recent graduates from a range of undergraduate degree specializations, including zoology, ecology, forestry sciences, environmental sciences, oceanography, economics, geography, anthropology, resource management and biology and individuals engaged in a variety of careers who want to upgrade their degree qualifications or change to a more interdisciplinary researchoriented career in ocean and fisheries sciences. The program will launch in September From a letter to the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries Director from DFO s Regional Director of Fisheries Management Template revised: July 2017

2 M.Sc. in Oceans and Fisheries The proposed tuition is $1, per instalment for domestic students and $2, per instalment for international students. These are the standard UBC graduate rates for 2018 Summer and Winter sessions and are subject to annual increases as established by the University. INSTITUTIONAL STRATEGIC PRIORITIES SUPPORTED Learning Research Innovation Engagement (Internal / External) or Operational International DESCRIPTION & RATIONALE The Program is designed to train marine and freshwater scientists to undertake basic and applied research that will help foster healthy marine and freshwater ecosystems and sustainable resource use. Students will broaden their interdisciplinary expertise and acquire professional experience in areas including fisheries science, aquatic ecology, environmental physiology, natural resource economics, marine governance, and climate change. In the process, the program will foster cutting-edge research on marine and freshwater systems, and address national and global priorities in environmental science and technologies, and natural resources and energy. The Program responds to the need for graduates with scientific expertise appropriate to address the existing and emerging new challenges to the management of fisheries and other resource use activities on Canada s and the world s vast coastline and marine territory and inland water bodies. The Program will equip graduates who will become future leaders in research and coastal zone management at provincial and federal levels. Canadian and U.S. government employers have recently been seeking graduates with interdisciplinary training and quantitative fisheries modeling skills. The graduates will be well-positioned to find jobs and create direct economic benefits to local, regional and provincial industries. The IOF s Aboriginal Fisheries Research Unit, will recruit Aboriginal students into the program, train them in the scientific skills and knowledge required for assessing and managing fisheries and appropriately qualify them for professional and leadership positions in their communities throughout the province. BENEFITS Learning, Research, Financial, Sustainability & Reputational The MSc program in Oceans and Fisheries will be a unique program in B.C., with the most pronounced joint focus on graduate training in fisheries and ocean and aquatic ecosystem research anywhere in Western Canada. The program will: meet First Nations needs for fisheries biologists and resource managers by training indigenous persons in the principles of applied ecology and aquatic resource management. through graduate training research conducted in it help resolve conflicts between stakeholder groups which will provide the social, regional and community benefits of optimized resource use and interdisciplinary evaluations of policy and resource development plans. Page 2

3 M.Sc. in Oceans and Fisheries advance the Government s priorities of Strengthening Science in Government and enable[ing] scientists to conduct research that promotes evidence-based decisionmaking ( provide graduate students with opportunities to collaborate with and learn from leading scholars in fisheries and ocean sciences and also federal and provincial research scientists in laboratories and research stations in Western Canada. RISKS Financial, Operational & Reputational COSTS Capital & Lifecycle Operating FINANCIAL Funding Sources, Impact on Liquidity Finances and budgets for this program have been reviewed and approved by the Office of the Provost and Vice-President Academic. We anticipate that the financial and operational risks will be minimal as it is expected we will only accept four to six MSc students per year and these numbers are close to the average numbers of MSc students recruited in recent years by IOF faculty members (about 3-5 students in total per year). By limiting student recruitment in the initial few years of implementation close to these recently recruited numbers we expect to minimize any reputational risk, such as the risk of not meeting student expectations. The costs for this program will be minimal as the current Institute already supports about 20 MSc students, mainly through three graduate programs and the IOF has budget to hire a graduate secretary to assist with program implentation. Therefore, the necessary financial resources and administrative structures have already been established to support students. The program is designed to operate within the revenue of the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries and no additional funding will be required. Proposed tuition is $1, per instalment for domestic students and $2, per instalment for international students, with a minimum number of 3 instalments per program. These are standard UBC graduate fees In the 2018 Summer and Winter sessions and are subject to annual increases as established by the University. Tuition and fee details are included in Appendix 1. We expect Canadian students to attain either NSERC or SSHRC fellowships for their studies. Both Canadian and International students will be eligible for university teaching assistantships and Graduate Student Initiative monies. There are also Institute-based and G+PS scholarships open to Canadian and international students. SCHEDULE The program is expected to launch in September CONSULTATION Relevant Units, Internal & External Constituencies Over the past decade, significant consultation has taken place both within UBC and externally. Internally, students were officially engaged as part of the former Fisheries Centre s 2009 External Review, at which graduate students studying fisheries topics expressed some dissatisfaction with the lack of a graduate program that was entirely fisheries focussed. In 2012, a meeting between Fisheries Centre faculty members and graduate students identified desirable features which could be part of a proposed new graduate program in fisheries. In July 2016 the Fisheries Centre was restructured into the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries and a new mandate for the latter was to develop a new Oceans and Fisheries graduate program. Page 3

4 M.Sc. in Oceans and Fisheries In 2017, a draft version of the proposed program was sent out to graduate students in the Institute for their comment. Many of the student suggestions have been included in the current proposal. Key examples of student observations about the development of a Masters program are noted below with indications on how we have addressed these suggestions in brackets. 1) The availability of elective graduate courses offering training in a variety of interdisciplinary research approaches, quantitative analysis and in field research design with specific focus on oceans and fisheries research was identified as a desirable attribute [incorporated]; 2) Having the option of choosing an MSc which allowed more focus on MSc thesis research and less on coursework and an MSc which allowed students to build more on their interdisciplinary skills and knowledge with slightly less emphasis on MSc thesis research [incorporated by proposing two different MSc streams: (1) an 18- thesis credit option and (2) a 12-thesis credit option]; 3) A former graduate student questioned whether sufficient administrative capacity had been secured to successfully implement the proposed program [full time salary funds to hire a new administrator have recently been secured by the Institute for the Oceans; a chief duty of this administrator will be to administer the new graduate program]; 4) It was seen to be desirable to bring together components of the natural science research approaches (e.g., in the UBC Zoology and Oceanography graduate programs) and interdisciplinary applied management and sustainability research approaches (e.g., in the UBC RES graduate program) [incorporated]. We have consulted with Departments and Schools at UBC that teach fisheries and oceans-related courses: Forestry, Anthropology, Geography, Vancouver School of Economics, School of First Nations and Indigenous Studies, Allard School of Law. These units supported the introduction of the program, some of them strongly. Externally, we have consulted oceans and fisheries related programs at SFU, UVIC, and the Vancouver Island University. Academic representatives in these programs all expressed support for the proposed program. We have received letters of support from the BC Ministry of the Environment, BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, Hakai Institute, and Regional Director of Science for Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Feedback from these consultations provides evidence of a need for the establishment of a new graduate program in western Canada with specific focus on oceans and fisheries science. Some of these expressed interest in future collaboration with graduate research and in hiring program graduates. Student consultation with respect to the proposed tuition took place over the period between February 12 th and March 12 th. The final consultation report is attached. Page 4

5 Appendix 1 Program Tuition and Fee Assessment Details ( ) Program Description: MSc in Oceans and Fisheries Start Date of the Program: 2019 winter session Domestic International Tuition Fees per Instalment Note 1 $1, $2, Minimum No. of Instalments 3 3 Continuing Fees per Instalment (assessed after 6 instalments) Note 1 $ $2, Application Fees Note 2 $ $ Supplemental Application Fees n/a n/a Non-Refundable Acceptance Deposit n/a n/a Other Faculty and Course Fees n/a n/a Note 1 These are the current standard tuition rates for the 2018W Winter session and are subject to annual increases as established by the university. Tuition and student fees are charged in three equal instalments payable in January, May, and September. Note 2. The rate is for applications received for 2019 Winter and 2020 Summer sessions and is subject to annual increases. Template revised: August 2015

6 REPORT TO THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS SUBJECT TUITION PHD IN OCEANS AND FISHERIES MEETING DATE APRIL 19, 2018 Forwarded to the Board of Governors on the Recommendation of the President APPROVED FOR SUBMISSION Santa J. Ono, President and Vice-Chancellor DECISION REQUESTED IT IS HEREBY REQUESTED that the UBC Board of Governors approve proposed tuition of $1, per instalment for domestic students and $2, per instalment for international students for the new PhD in Oceans and Fisheries. Report Date March 15, 2018 Presented By Andrew Szeri, Provost and Vice-President Academic Hugh Brock, Associate Provost Academic Innovation Simon Peacock, Dean, Faculty of Science Evgeny Pakhomov, Director of the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The PhD in Oceans and Fisheries is a four-year degree program to be offered on the Vancouver campus by the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries (IOF). Students enrolled in the Program will be required to complete one seminar course, (FISH 500) and a Ph.D. thesis project (FISH 599). Numerous credit courses in fisheries and oceans are available and can be taken as electives by students. The IOF and the former Fisheries Centre have offered fisheries graduate courses for credit since the 1990s and have run a fisheries PhD option under the Resources and Environmental Studies Graduate Program since 2011 with the fisheries PhD option soon to be dissolved. The Provincial and Federal Governments are committed to achieving a balance between environmental protection, economic development in BC resource sectors, and growth in BC Seafood Industries 1. Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has noted that sustainable management of BC fisheries is becoming increasingly challenging given the uncertainties of climate change and other pressures and that DFO need[s] to recruit individuals with the skills to engage and address the problems 2. The proposed program thus aims to train research scientists with expertise in fisheries science, aquatic ecology, environmental physiology, natural resource economics, marine governance, and climate change. The Program will attract recent graduates from a range of M.A. and M.Sc. degree programs including anthropology, sociology, geography, zoology, ecology, forestry sciences, environmental sciences, oceanography, resource management and biology and individuals engaged in a variety of careers who want to upgrade their qualifications or change to a more interdisciplinary research-oriented career. The From a letter to the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries Director from DFO s Regional Director of Fisheries Management Template revised: July 2017

7 PhD in Oceans and Fisheries program will launch in September The proposed tuition is $1, per instalment for domestic students and $2, per instalment for international students. These are the standard UBC graduate rates for 2018 Summer and Winter sessions and are subject to annual increases as established by the university. INSTITUTIONAL STRATEGIC PRIORITIES SUPPORTED Learning Research Innovation Engagement (Internal / External) or Operational International DESCRIPTION & RATIONALE BENEFITS Learning, Research, Financial, Sustainability & Reputational The Program is designed to train marine and freshwater scientists in basic and applied research that will help foster healthy marine and freshwater ecosystems and sustainable resource use. Students will deepen their expertise and acquire professional experience in areas including fisheries science, aquatic ecology, environmental physiology, natural resource economics, marine governance, and climate change. The program will foster cutting-edge research on marine and freshwater systems, and address national and global priorities in environmental science and technologies, and natural resources and energy. The Program responds to the need for graduates with scientific expertise appropriate to address the existing and emerging new challenges to the management of fisheries and other resource use activities on Canada s and the world s vast coastline and marine territory and inland water bodies. The Program will equip graduates who will become future leaders in research and coastal zone management at provincial and federal levels. Canadian and U.S. government employers have recently been seeking graduates with interdisciplinary training and quantitative fisheries modeling skills. The graduates will be wellpositioned to find jobs and create direct economic benefits to local, regional and provincial industries. The PhD program in Oceans and Fisheries will be a unique program in B.C., with the most pronounced joint focus on graduate training in fisheries and ocean and aquatic ecosystem research anywhere in Western Canada. The program will through graduate training and research conducted in it: improve understanding of how to achieve sustainable development surrounding coastal and freshwater aquatic resources help resolve conflicts between stakeholder groups which will provide the social, regional and community benefits of optimized resource use and interdisciplinary evaluations of policy and resource development plans. advance the Government s priorities of Strengthening Science in Government and enable[ing] scientists to conduct research that promotes evidence-based decisionmaking ( provide graduate students with opportunities to collaborate with and learn from leading scholars in fisheries and ocean sciences and also federal and provincial research scientists in laboratories and research stations in Western Canada. Page 2

8 PhD in Oceans and Fisheries RISKS Financial, Operational & Reputational COSTS Capital & Lifecycle Operating FINANCIAL Funding Sources, Impact on Liquidity Finances and budgets for this program have been reviewed and approved by the Office of the Provost and Vice-President Academic. We anticipate that the financial and operational risks will be minimal as it is expected we will only accept two to five PhD students per year and these numbers are close to the average numbers of PhD students recruited in recent years by IOF faculty members (about 2-4 students in total per year). By limiting student recruitment in the initial few years of implementation close to these recently recruited numbers we expect to minimize any reputational risk, such as the risk of not meeting student expectations. The costs for this program will be minimal as the current Institute already supports about 20 PhD students, mainly through three graduate programs and the IOF has budget to hire a graduate secretary to assist with program implentation. Therefore, the necessary financial resources and administrative structures have already been established to support students. The program is designed to operate within the revenue of the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries and no additional funding will be required. Proposed tuition is $1, per instalment for domestic students and $2, per instalment for international students, with a minimum number of 6 instalments per program. These are standard UBC graduate fees In the 2018 Summer and Winter sessions and are subject to annual increases as established by the university. Tuition and fee details are included in Appendix 1. We expect Canadian students to attain either NSERC or SSHRC fellowships for their studies. Both Canadian and International students will be eligible for university teaching assistantships and Graduate Student Initiative monies. There are also Institute-based and G+PS scholarships open to Canadian and international students. SCHEDULE The program is expected to launch in September CONSULTATION Relevant Units, Internal & External Constituencies Over the past decade, significant consultation has taken place both within UBC and externally. Internally, students were officially engaged as part of the former Fisheries Centre s 2009 External Review, at which graduate students studying fisheries topics expressed some dissatisfaction with the lack of a graduate program that was entirely fisheries focussed. In 2012, a meeting between Fisheries Centre faculty members and graduate students identified desirable features which could be part of a proposed new graduate program in fisheries. In July 2016 the Fisheries Centre was restructured into the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries and a new mandate for the latter was to develop a new Oceans and Fisheries graduate program. In 2017, a draft version of the proposed program was sent out to graduate students in the Institute for their comment. Many of the student suggestions have been included in the current proposal. Key examples of student observations about the development of a PhD program are noted below with indications on how we have addressed these suggestions in brackets. Page 3

9 PhD in Oceans and Fisheries 1) A recommended fieldwork component was seen to be a desirable feature [we highly recommend but do not require fieldwork experience]; 2) A minimum of required course work was seen to be desirable [incorporated]; 3) The availability of elective graduate courses offering training in a variety of interdisciplinary research approaches, quantitative analysis and in field research design with specific focus on oceans and fisheries research was identified as a desirable attribute [incorporated]; 4) A former graduate student questioned whether sufficient administrative capacity had been secured to successfully implement the proposed program [full time salary funds to hire a new administrator have recently been secured by the Institute for the Oceans; a chief duty of this administrator will be to administer the new graduate program]; 5) It was seen to be desirable to bring together components of the natural science research approaches (e.g., in the UBC Zoology and Oceanography graduate programs) and interdisciplinary applied management and sustainability research approaches (e.g., in the UBC RES graduate program) [incorporated]. We have consulted with Departments and Schools at UBC that teach fisheries and oceans-related courses: Forestry, Anthropology, Geography, Vancouver School of Economics, School of First Nations and Indigenous Studies, Allard School of Law. These units supported the introduction of the program, some of them strongly. Externally, we have consulted oceans and fisheries related programs at SFU, UVIC, and the Vancouver Island University. Academic representatives in these programs all expressed support for the proposed program. We have received letters of support from the BC Ministry of the Environment, BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, Hakai Institute, and Regional Director of Science for Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Feedback from these consultations provides evidence of a need for the establishment of a new graduate program in western Canada with specific focus on oceans and fisheries science. Some of these expressed interest in future collaboration with graduate research and in hiring program graduates. Student consultation with respect to the proposed tuition took place over the period between February 12 th and March 12 th. The final consultation report is attached. Page 4

10 Appendix 1 Program Tuition and Fee Assessment Details ( ) Program Description: PhD in Oceans and Fisheries Start Date of the Program: 2019 winter session Domestic International Tuition Fees per Instalment Note 1 $1, $2, Minimum No. of Instalments 6 6 Continuing Fees per Instalment (assessed after 9 instalments) Note 1 $ $2, Application Fees Note 2 $ $ Supplemental Application Fees n/a n/a Non-Refundable Acceptance Deposit n/a n/a Other Faculty and Course Fees n/a n/a Note 1 These are the current standard tuition rates for the 2018 Winter session and are subject to annual increases as established by the University. Tuition and student fees are charged in three equal instalments payable in January, May, and September. Note 2. The rate is for applications received for 2019 Winter and 2020 Summer sessions and is subject to annual increases. Template revised: August 2015

11 MSC AND PHD IN OCEANS & FISHERIES STUDENT TUITION CONSULTATION REPORT The Vice-President Students Office, in partnership with the Faculty of Science, conducted a student consultation regarding the tuition proposal for the new Masters of Science in Oceans & Fisheries and PhD in Oceans & Fisheries. This report outlines the consultation process and summarizes student feedback including the student representatives' submission verbatim in Appendix 2. Student Representative Bodies Invited to the Consultation Alma Mater Society (AMS) Graduate Student Society (GSS) Graduate students in the Institute of Oceans & Fisheries Mode of Consultation The consultation consisted of an e-consultation and a face-to-face meeting. Student representative groups were invited to the consultation through , and asked to distribute the invitation to their constituents as they felt appropriate. Student representative groups were also offered a face-to-face meeting to discuss the tuition proposal. A meeting was not requested by student representatives. Basis of Consultation: The consultation was based on a tuition proposal and rationale document created by the Faculty. Please see Appendix 1 for the invitation and tuition rationale document. Timelines: The e-consultation was conducted over the period of February 2 nd, 2018 to March 12 th, Summary of Student Feedback: Submissions were received from the AMS and GSS. The verbatim submission is in Appendix 2. Organization AMS Submission Summary STRENGTH OF PROGRAM These programs will address multiple UBC priorities by strengthening commitments to research excellence and sustainability. STUDENT FINANCIAL AID The AMS hopes that UBC will be able to commit significant aid and scholarship for this program to ensure these opportunities are accessible to all financial backgrounds. GSS Submission There were no significant themes addressing the tuition proposal. No individual student submissions were received.

12 APPENDIX 1: INVITATION TO CONSULTATION AND TUITION RATIONALE DOCUMENT Good afternoon, There is a submission by the Faculty of Science to create a Master of Science in Oceans and Fisheries, as well as a PhD in Oceans and Fisheries. In order to inform the program leads and the Board of Governors with regards to the tuition proposal for this program, the University is undertaking a consultative process to get your comments as student representatives, and provide an opportunity for students to provide individual comments on the tuition proposal if they wish. Please note: the scope of this consultation process is limited to the tuition proposal. The consultation will consist of: 1. e-consultation Please find attached a document which outline the details of the tuition proposal, including: an overview of the program, the student consultation that has happened to date, the tuition rationale for the program, and the proposed tuition. Please share the document and this as you see appropriate. Comments on the tuition proposal and student submissions can be provided confidentially to: jenna.omassi@ubc.ca (Jenna Omassi, Advisor, Vice-President Students Office). 2. Face to Face meeting If requested by student representatives, we can arrange a face-to-face meeting with the program leads regarding this tuition proposal. Please advise as soon as possible if you would like us to arrange a meeting. THE CONSULTATION PROCESS WILL END ON MARCH 12, Confidentiality Comments will be collected by the Vice-President Students Office, and only staff within that office will know the identity of individual students submitting comments. At no time will anyone outside of the Vice President Students Office know the identity of individual students who submit comments to this consultation. Your comments will only be used for the purposes of the tuition consultation. Comments from individual students will be stripped of any identifying information to ensure confidentiality, but otherwise will be provided to the responsible program leads and Board of Governors verbatim. Comments received from student organizations will be reported as coming from those organizations, and provided to the responsible faculty and Board of Governors as received. There will also be a summary report of the consultation developed for the Faculty and Board of Governors. Please let me know if you have any questions about the process. Thank you. Jenna Omassi Advisor, Strategic Support Team Vice-President Students Office University of British Columbia I Vancouver jenna.omassi@ubc.ca

13 APPENDIX 2: STUDENT SUBMISSIONS There were verbatim comments from GSS. MSC in Oceans and Fisheries What would be the differences between the 12-credit thesis project and the 18-credit thesis project? Will the 18-credit thesis project longer than the 12-credit thesis project? Will there be differences in quality between the 12-credit and the 18-credit thesis project? Will there be differences in how professors supervise students pursuing a 12-credit thesis project and those doing the 18-credit thesis project? PhD in Oceans and Fisheries In the middle of page 2, the proposal states: (3) [t]he availability of elective graduate courses offering training in a variety of interdisciplinary research approaches, quantitative analysis and in field research design with specific focus on oceans and fisheries research was identified as a desirable attribute What courses are these? And how would the program ensure that the students could enlist in these courses, or that these courses will have slots for the students of the program?

14 There was a submission from the AMS.